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The Conservatives don't show up for Pride, and that's a problem - Macleans.ca

The Conservative Party of Canada has a gay problem. If I’d written that sentence even 20 years ago, readers would assume backbenchers had been caught scrumming in a men’s bathhouse. But times have changed, thankfully. In 1996, we amended the Human Rights Act to include sexual orientation. Seven years later, we began to legalize same-sex marriage, and two years after that it was legalized nationally.

Mercifully, Canadian values continually change. As a result, we now live in a nation where women can vote, Chinese immigrants don’t pay a head tax and Indigenous children are not sent to residential schools. Society evolves. Citizens adopt new values. Progress marches on.

Unless you’re a Conservative member of Parliament, in which case you can’t even march in Canada’s largest pride parade. The reason why is a bit of a mystery. The organizers didn’t ban them. The party knew about the event—it’s well publicized months in advance. Other politicians of all stripes, including provincial Tories, were there. So why didn’t Andrew Scheer’s MPs show up?

There is actually a very long tradition of conservative politicians getting the “gay flu” just before a pride parade. Just a few weeks earlier, in Alberta, both the leader of the Wildrose Party and the new Progressive Conservative Leader Jason Kenney were unable to attend Edmonton’s pride parade due to “other long-standing commitments.”

Those darn commitments always seem to pop up for the Conservatives. To be fair, some are brave enough to abandon the charade. Former leadership hopeful Brad Trost, for example, promised his supporters he’d never march in a pride parade. A member of his staff later explained this decision by saying, “Brad’s not entirely comfortable with the whole gay thing.”

If the Conservatives ever want to find their way back into power, then Trost and his colleagues are going to have to figure out a way to get comfortable with “the whole gay thing.”

This is not because the LGBTQ community in Canada makes up a sizable proportion of the electorate (although it does). It’s because a party that aspires to represent and lead Canadians must represent their values. And in this regard, the Tories are once again being left behind.

According to a recent poll by the Angus Reid Institute, 85 per cent of Canadians are willing to vote for a party that is led by a gay man; 84 per cent would accept a gay woman. This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Over the past 30 years, we have become one of the most progressive countries in the world on this issue.

Canadians are among the most open-minded about almost everything: race, religion, abortion, drug use, immigration and euthanasia. This is an indisputable fact that the Conservative party is eventually going to have to acknowledge.

Being the only party on the right of the political spectrum, the Tories can always count on some votes. The relatively large number of party members who supported social-conservative candidates like Trost and Scheer will not be in play during the next election. No matter what socks Trudeau dangles in front of them, they won’t vote Liberal. And no matter whom the NDP chooses as its leader, these voters will not go orange either.

Scheer will only find new votes among more moderate Canadians. Right now, this is an electoral front where the Liberals find themselves alone, commanding the battlefield. If the Conservatives are going to change that, they will have to ﬁnd issues, policies and candidates that appeal to those voters. In other words, their path to victory marches toward the centre, right down the middle of Yonge Street in Toronto, hand-in-hand with the LGBTQ community and the millions of Canadians who support them.

But Andrew Scheer and his colleagues should set aside the obvious political benefits of doing so and simply ask themselves what it means to be a Conservative. If they still imagine themselves to be the party that supports the rights of the individual and the need for less intrusive government, then a Canadian’s freedom to choose whom they love should be something Conservatives not only support but loudly and energetically champion.

Scott Gilmore is a member of the Conservative party, and is married to a Liberal cabinet member.

i find the conservative big tent circus, very similar to Barnum Bailey, Ringling Brothers big tent circus, if they don’t get rid of them dinosaur acts in the party, the big tent could fold. Harper has Sheer on remote control. Nothing but a bunch of homophobes in the conservative party, locked in a world of Orwell. Just to remind the conservatives and their voters, the charter of rights protect you people too, no matter how much hatred you have for people and how much you like exploit people to raise funds to support your hatred for the segments of our society, and the charter even protects Andrew Sheer’s freedom of hate and speech.

Isn’t this just so typical of you “tolerant” Liberal left. Just because some of us choose not to participate in a Pride Parade where nudity is clearly part of the activities, we are labeled “homophobic”. Frankly I don’t need to see another man’s junk on public display nor would I want to expose my children to such degrading behavior. To see our Prime Minister prancing around in the parade with his own children in tow diminishes the office and his stature.

That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever read. If he thinks gays have been totally accepted into mainstream culture and there is no need for gay pride, he needs to spend some time in immigrant and rural communities and get their take. Idiot.

I’ll disagree with you, but only partly. LGBT may only be partly accepted, but that’s moot. The courts have determined that the Crown cannot discriminate based upon sexuality, and the only equality that matters is equality before the law (the Crown). Pride month and pride events are now just chest thumping exercises. LGBT types have legal equality. What other equality do they want? There is none.
I totally agree with you that pride events actually set them back because they’re propaganda events more than anything.

‘GID was reclassified to gender dysphoria by the DSM-5.[8]Some transgender people and researchers support declassification of GID because they say the diagnosis pathologizes gender variance, reinforces the binary model of gender,[9] and can result in stigmatization of transgender individuals.[8] The official reclassification as gender dysphoria in the DSM-5 may help resolve some of these issues, because the term gender dysphoria applies only to the discontent experienced by some persons resulting from gender identity issues.[8] The American Psychiatric Association, publisher of the DSM-5, states that “gender nonconformity is not in itself a mental disorder. The critical element of gender dysphoria is the presence of clinically significant distress associated with the condition.”[10]
The main psychiatric approaches to treatment for persons diagnosed with gender dysphoria are psychotherapy or supporting the individual’s preferred gender through hormone therapy, gender expression and role, or surgery.[11]’

The Cons, for the most part, don’t pretend to be something they’re not. Harper was like that until he got into power and had a reality check. Pandered to his base on some issues. The pandering cost all taxpayers which was sad because I had to pay(tax monies) to keep a small handful shuts. Oh yes, his base did very well by him.

I don’t think I can handle another government like Harper’s. He did do okay on some stuff, I’ll give him credit. The propaganda was scary/terrorising for some of us.

The only propaganda that caused Harper to lose the election was the vile propaganda from the Leftist media and the Liberals. Even now we have our Prime Minister lying to Bloomberg Business that Harper banned head scarves. Harper never did any such thing. Has any of the media called Justin out on this lie? No. We have Liberal MP’s lying about: “We’ll save money by moving the Immigration office from Vegreville” when there is absolute proof that was a lie. Lying is endemic to Liberals. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan lied about his role in an operation in Afghanistan; his Minister for Status of Women Maryam Monsef lied about her birthplace; his Minister of Science Kirsty Duncan lied about receiving a Nobel Prize; Majid Jowhari, Liberal MP for the Toronto-area riding of Richmond Hill, lied by claiming he was a professional engineer; his Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale has lied by claiming that there is nothing to worry about with border security and then we find out that almost 50% of these refugee claimants have a criminal history.(CBC : Nearly half of the asylum seekers crossing the Manitoba border illegally in the last few weeks are being detained because of serious criminal records, suggesting the profile of would-be refugee claimants is changing, according to the union representing border patrol officers.”) . I’d challenge you to list any “propaganda” the Conservatives put out there.

Respecting someone’s rights doesn’t mean one has “to party” with them. Besides Toronto Pride has decided to not be inclusive of all in the LGBTQ2…..as they have begun disinviting certain groups within the community.

Mister Gilmour appears to be making the same error that the Democrats made in the last American election: Just because your supporters to the outside have ‘no other option’ you cannot therefor ignore and offend them without fear.

If the Conservatives as whole enthusiastically embrace the Pride movement and (presumably) silence/sideline those who speak out against it (Trost and his ilk), then conservative Christians (and Jews, and anti-gay atheists, etc.) will the same thing as American blacks did when the Democrats presented them with a rich white insider as their ‘champion.’

They will stay home.

As of 2011, Christians made up two thirds of the country. Assuming that even 10% of them consider this (perhaps in combination with abortion, gender fluidity, and the whole gamut of ‘moral’ conservative issues [i.e. non-fiscal, non-nationalist issues]) a make-or-break issue, that is still two and a half million voters lost either to minor parties, to spoiled ballots, or simply finding something better to do on election day.

Do you think you can make up 2.5 million voters (minimum) in the centre?

Cons don’t have to ’embrace’ gays…..just stop attacking them. Same for feminists, blacks, Muslims and everybody else. Forget the religion and concentrate on national matters……transportation, the economy, health and welfare……the future of the nation. Leave the religion in church.

Uh-huh. You really don’t want to answer my question, do you? Lets try this again: Lots of people have died in bombings committed by Muslims. Does that mean it’s ok for me to say that Muslims “attack everyone?”

Supporting the Gay Pride parade and supporting Gay rights are two completely different things and trying to link them is ridiculous. If 85% of Canadians would vote for a gay Prime Minister then that’s saying that a majority of Conservatives have absolutely no issue with gay people or giving them equal rights. That is NOT the same thing as saying that Conservatives are OK with S&M types dancing around naked in front of our children.

Emily , you really have a problem with reality. First of all the Crusades were in answer to Muslim invaders against the Jews. FACT. Second, your previous comment ‘Straight white male offended by any feminist, ethnic or cultural activity which is not directly focused on him.’ Shows you have an unbalanced concept of white males or you are openly a misandrist, both of which make me wonder what ever led you to let your mind become so distorted with hatred toward men and Christians?

They haven’t embraced Canada’s new state religion as of yet. But that’s ok because as long as we keep hammering the kids with propaganda, the next generation will. The more children that we socially, chemically and surgically transition to the other sex, the stronger we become as a nation.

Scott Gillmore’s CPC credentials are a little thin to be speaking on behalf of a group of CPC supporters. I can’t rule out that he has a membership, but I can’t remember him knocking on a single door, or otherwise working constructively in any way with the party, ever.

Scott Gilmore is a could example of pseudo-conservatism that panders to modern liberalism for the sake of power.

Modern liberalism is an unstable synthesis of radical individualism and radical egalitarianism that is at odds with each other. It is a an atheistic, materialistic, and hedonistic ideology that seeks to defy God, divine law, and natural law, even reality itself at times.

The homosexual network (LGBTQ), Justin Trudeau, the Liberal Party of Canada, the NDP, and the liberal media are the embodiment of the evil of modern liberalism in this country. They are all corrupt to the core and are bringing Canada to eventual ruin.

Gay pride parades and the LGBTQ flag are political events and symbols that seek to propagate the manifest evil of modern liberalism. Conservatives have good cause to resist this evil and need not participate in these events.

As Scott Gilmore said, people change, and the future is not guaranteed to be dominated by modern liberalism. The moral and economic collapse of Western Civilization that modern liberalism will bring about will also bring about the destruction of modern liberalism.

The truth is as Plato first articulated and upon which Aristotle expounded upon, is reason. The truth does not contradict itself and is supported by either inductive with fundamental, prior, axioms or deductive reasoning with observable events and objects.

The soundness of any logic rests upon its fundamental axioms upon which it rests and these are articles of faith. As Marcus Tulles Cicero correctly states about “right reason” the fundamental axiom of existence is the reality of God who is transcendental. For as Aristotle showed through cause and effect that there is one transcendental God, creator of all things.

The preponderance of scientific evidence points to the existence of the transcendental existence of God and to the existence of natural law. Scientific research by psychologists on infants proves that human beings are born with an innate morality which can be affected by the people the child associates with as they mature, either strengthening it or weakening it.

This God has revealed himself through the Jewish prophets and fully in Jesus of Nazareth. Both natural moral law and divine law come from God. For divine law makes explicit what is implicit in natural law.

Dudes. When tempted to enter into conversation with E1, may I suggest an alternative. Walk outside and converse with a nearby elm, or poplar. Said bush will offer more erudition and intellect, and be far more engaging in the parry and thrust of debate, answering in more complete sentences and taking the time to defend its position with with facts and observations. In the absence of mature shrubbery, a hockey puck, new or used will suffice, as they too are less intellectually vapid than our dear Em.

You have a rather sick mind to suggest that the Conservative Party is a “religion”. Never has ANY Conservative government EVER imposed their religious beliefs on ANYONE. The same CANNOT be said for the Liberal Party. Under Liberal governments, all Canadians are forced (even if their conscience finds such policies abhorrent) to support abortions. Now we are not only expected to be tolerant of Gay Pride Parades but we are now expected to actively participate in them or be deemed to be homophobic. Freedom of choice is NOT an option under Liberal governments nor the Liberal media.

The Conservative Party is just a political party, and it is hardly conservative. For what exactly does it conserve? Conservatives are not classical liberals or libertarian, conservatives are those who seek to conserve Western Civilization whose social capital comes from Christianity.

The social capital of Western Civilization was laid during the middle ages. There was more technological and social innovation between the years A.D. 476 (the fall of Rome) and A.D. 1453 ( the fall of Constantinople) than in the previous 1000+ years of the Roman Empire and Republic. The foundations of representative democracy with the rule of law, modern science, and capitalism where all established during this period.

Modern science is historically, sociologically, and psychologically the product of a Christian (Catholic) culture rooted in the natural philosophy of the Catholic Church. So is capitalism, it existed centuries before the so-called Protestant Reformation. It originated in Italy and spread through out Europe. The natural rights of men, which we now call human rights, is a Catholic concept rooted in the natural law theory of scholastics.

Saint Thomas Aquinas was chief among the scholastics of the Church and it was he who showed that polity (representative democracy), with a leader and an assembly with representatives, both elected by the people, was the best form of government in accordance with natural law.

The principle of natural rights originated with a seventeenth century Spanish Jesuit, Francisco Suarez, in A.D. 1610. He, as a scholastic philosopher, wrote a tractate entitled De Legibus (On the Laws) in which he expounded both a theological and secular argument for the inherent natural rights of men as part of natural law.

His tractate was a source for John Locke and his theory of natural rights in the second treatise on government.

Why is it imperative for ANY politician to march in ANY parade? Is that what makes someone qualified to lead a country? Especially a family man with small children? To be seen in a Pride Parade where nudity is part of the norm? Rob Ford never marched in a Pride Parade because the parade always was held on the weekend that he had always set aside for his family get-away. I think a man who’s committed to his family is a more appropriate leader than someone who wants to be seen for photo ops.

Nothing matters to the hyper individualistic, decadent, secular social liberal than their neichzean force of will. There is no good or evil with these people only the force of will, which is why they are evil! All in defiance of God and morality!

Seriously? “The Con party is anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-suicide…….in fact a whole raft or religious beliefs. And every chance they get they try to impose those beliefs on everyone else..” I CHALLENGE YOU to list ANY legislation that the Conservatives have brought in that imposes their religious beliefs on ANYONE. The same CANNOT be said for the Liberal Party. They have brought in legislation that forces all Canadians to support their religious beliefs of pro-abortion, pro-gay and pro-suicide.

“No one is forcing you to march in any parade. Stay home.” Really? I believe this is EXACTLY what this article by Scott Gilmore is about. FORCING Conservatives or anyone to march in Gay Pride Parades or to be outcast and treated as social pariahs in our so called “tolerant” society and being labeled as homophobes. Your own posts have exemplified the lowest terms of contempt and the vile level of denigration you have already heaped on us for daring to suggest why we would not choose to join the parade.

‪Why would any conservative want to? I don’t want to see men prancing and queers flaming. And the most important point, there is nothing good said about pride in the Bible.‬ And nothing good about taking a symbol of Gods promise and using it for a lifestyle that God has such loathing for.

A Gay Parade promoting gay sex. Why bother? I would much rather have politicians engaged and thinking about something else. There are so many issues that require immediate attention, and Gay Sex does not come to mind for most Canadians. Gay, extra gay, super gay. who cares? The gay agenda does not need any more promotion. Gays have become a special interest group that gets far too much promotion from the media and politicians alike. Heterosexuals get back in the closet, there is no parade for you. Scott Gilmore has become a political correctness junkie trying to stay employed in the political correctness industry. Rob Ford got it right, a good day to go to the cottage.

In a related hate speech vs free speech case the Supreme Court ruled that the truth is no defence.

Do you know what that means? It means that whatever the government says is final. We can no longer legally speak truth to power.

Wynne has taken full advantage of it. In grade school students are taught that transgender is a normal sexuality. It is in reality defined by the mental disorder gender dysphoria which is also the required diagnosis for surgery.

Take her to court for lying to all children and you’ll be charged with a hate crime. The truth cannot be your defence anymore.

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